Benjamin Aryeh, a former Member of Parliament for Upper Denkyira-West has debunked the reports that residents of the Denkyira district are violent people.
He said the town was a community of peaceful people and they were not ‘killers’.
“We are not killers…we are also peace loving people like all Ghanaians, Ghana is not the country with the highest crime rate for Denkyira-Obuasi to be number one in terms of trouble making, the problem is that there is no town without trouble makers, there are all shades of people in a town and Denkyira-Obuasi is just like any other town…”
Mr. Aryeh was speaking on Asempa FM on Wednesday, when he stated that the people of Denkyira were just like Ghanaians, and it was the recent terrible tragedy has put them in the limelight as bad people.
He noted that people calling for the entire Denkyira district to be wiped out, are the same type of people that were involved in the lynching of the late Captain Maxwell Mahama.
A little over a week ago, the entire country was thrown into a state of shock at the report of an army captain lynched to death and his body burned by residents of Denkyira-Obuasi.
According to the police report, the officer was mistaken for an armed robber during his early morning jog, and his attempts to prove his innocence were ignored by the irate mob.
Gruesome photos and videos of the officer’s lynching showed horrific acts by some the residents as they showed no mercy in their desire to inflict ‘justice’ on the army officer.
The incident has caused widespread public outrage over the rise in lawless mob actions such as these, with calls for the matter to handled under the full extent of the law.
Police investigations are still ongoing and over 42 suspects have been arrested including the Assemblyman of the town who led the mob in the attack.
Commenting further on the issue, Mr. Aryeh said, “We must have a look at the whole issue of mob justice in the country, some people have been lynched even after Major Mahama and that explains our mentality as a people, we simply must take a look at that and not just that of the late Mahama…”